Chabad on the Vineyard returns this summer with a full slate of events tailored toward the Island’s seasonal Jewish community.

The highlight of the season will be the Jewish Culture Festival on July 22, said Rabbi Tzvi Alperowitz, director of Chabad on the Vineyard. Reggae, rock and pop musician Matisyahu will perform as the festival’s headlining act, alongside Jewish music groups from Boston and the Island. Royal Wine, one of the leading American kosher wine importers, will offer tastings of Israeli and other kosher wines. 

“It’s going to be a day of celebration of Jewish pride and identity,” Rabbi Alperowitz said. “Judaism is obviously a religion, it’s a family, it’s a people — and it’s also a culture, and it’s a rich culture.” 

Alongside the Jewish Culture Fest, Chabad will offer a “Critical Conversations” series featuring speakers who will focus on “timely Jewish topics,” Rabbi Alperowitz said. 

On July 10, British political commentator Douglas Murray will speak, and on July 30, New York Times opinion columnist Bret Stephens will moderate a conversation on antisemitism on American college campuses with scholars Kenneth Marcus and Rachel Fish. 

On Friday evenings, Chabad will offer a Shabbat dinner series, each featuring a brief talk given by an “Island personality” on an issue of importance to the local Jewish community, Rabbi Alperowitz said. 

Chabad on the Vineyard also hopes to broaden its appeal with a festival for a more “Jewnior” crowd. The first annual Martha’s Vineyard Jewnior Festival, featuring music, games and barbeque for young Jewish families, will be hosted at the Island Alpaca Farm on August 14.

Rabbi Alperowitz said that the schedule of summer events is open to all Islanders, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, regardless of political and religious conviction. 

“Our community really is as broad and diverse as the Jewish community itself,” Rabbi Alperowitz said. “There are people who identify themselves as Reform, Conservative, Orthodox. I myself am Hasidic . . . . We try to put all our differences on the door, and celebrate what we share in common.”